Inspiration to Installation

GTECH Center

"After researching different mesh suppliers, we found that Cambridge Architectural offered a wider selection of metal fabric options than its competitors. The metal fabric was a cost-effective solution for the draped aesthetic that we were looking for." - Nathaniel Finley, AIA, Spagnolo Gisness & Associates, Inc.

Location: Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Year Completed: 2006

End Use: Mixed-Use, Parking Garage

Architect: Spagnolo Gisness & Associates, Inc. - Boston, MA

General Contractor: Capco Steel Corporation - Providence, RI

Owner: USAA Real Estate Company, Commonwealth Ventures, LLC

Application

Cambridge Architectural woven metal fabric provides distinct styling and beauty as it drapes the exterior lower floors of GTECH Center, a mixed-use office tower in Providence, RI, and the first structure visible driving into town. As the first new commercial structure to be built in Providence in 16 years, it was critical that the modern design blend with the existing streetscape and the parking deck be concealed.

The Cambridge Architectural mesh system provides the perfect solution, combining design with functionality, affordability and sustainability to create an elegant system as cladding for the structure.

Function

GTECH Center's three-story parking garage, located underneath the mixed-use offices, demands a solution that looks beautiful and also serves several functions. During daylight hours, Cambridge Architectural exterior cladding material provides important sun shading for GTECH employees and visitors, while allowing harmful exhaust fumes to escape from the garage. At night, the mesh material decreases the amount of light pollution emitted by automobiles inside.

Benefit

Cambridge Architectural worked with architects to fine-tune the facade's supporting hardware and discovered an economical solution without sacrificing structural integrity. Cambridge found a more cost-effective way to design the attachment system. Eclipse attachment hardware - a patented stainless steel tension attachment that grips and holds metal fabric in tension at the top and bottom of a panel - saved the cost of additional hardware by employing tension to preserve the mesh's structural integrity.

By promoting improved air quality through increased ventilation, Cambridge mesh systems reduce the reliance on energy-consuming HVAC systems. Additionally, all materials used in Cambridge solutions are engineered to last a lifetime with minimal maintenance. Once these materials, with a high volume of recycled content, reach the end of their lifecycles, they can be easily recycled into the next generation of architectural mesh.

Cambridge Architectural is an active member of the USGBC®, and helps architects take maximum advantage of LEED credit through the many categories in which architectural mesh systems apply.